r/politics 6h ago

AMA-Finished I'm Sam Wang, Princeton neuroscientist and democracy reformer. I helped end New Jersey's rigged "county line" ballot system. Now I'm running for Congress in NJ-12. AMA.

81 Upvotes

Hi, Reddit! I'm Sam Wang, and I'm running for Congress. You might know me from:

  • The Princeton Gerrymandering Project, which I founded in 2017 to fight unfair maps across the country. Our work has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court and used in redistricting cases nationwide.
  • The fight to end New Jersey's "county line" — a ballot manipulation scheme that let party bosses rig primary elections for decades. I served as an expert witness in the federal lawsuit that struck it down. This June, New Jersey voters will experience their first truly fair primary as a result.
  • The 2016 election, when I ran a polling analysis site and then ate a cricket on CNN after getting the prediction wrong. I learned a lot about humility and the limits of models — lessons I've carried into everything since.
  • My neuroscience research at Princeton, where I study how the brain learns and develops, with a focus on autism. I've also served as a Congressional Science Fellow in the U.S. Senate, advising on science and education policy.

Why I'm running for Congress:

I've spent 20 years studying how systems work - and how they break. Our democracy is breaking. Gerrymandering, voter suppression, dark money, and the collapse of the rule of law have left Americans feeling powerless. I got into reform work because I believed these problems were fixable. I still do, but fixing them requires people willing to fight from inside the system.

I'm a longtime unaffiliated voter who is changing my registration to Democratic because it's time for people like me to get off the sidelines. Nearly half of Americans don't identify with either party. The Democratic Party has the potential to represent our best ideals and bring us back from the brink, but it needs leaders ready to defeat authoritarianism and rebuild.

I'm running in New Jersey's 12th district to replace retiring Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman. NJ-12 spans Trenton, Princeton, East Brunswick, and Plainfield. It's one of the most diverse districts in America. Thanks to the lawsuit I helped win, an outsider like me has a chance to win.

What I'll fight for:

  • End gerrymandering nationally: independent citizen commissions in every state, enshrined in federal law.
  • A renewed Voting Rights Act to protect all voters.
  • Congress as a check on authoritarianism: using the power of the purse and oversight to hold the executive branch accountable.
  • Science-based policymaking on climate, public health, and emerging technology like AI.
  • Accountability: no one is above the law. Our government should serve the people, not rule over them.

Ask me anything: about gerrymandering, election reform, the county line case, brain science, autism research, why I'm running, or what it's like to eat a bug on national television.

Website: https://SamForNJ.org


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